After almost two years of planning and preparation – including the three juniors involved Abbey Kennedy (13), Ben Evans (15) and Jake Magill (15) escalating their training programs and engaging our wonderful community of Parkes through fundraising and sponsorship – the time finally came to meet up with the rest of the team at Melbourne Airport and board the early morning flight to Los Angeles.

After 16 hours in the air, a short bus trip ensued and we disembarked on Disneyland Drive, right across the road from ‘The Happiest Place on Earth’ for our four-night stay.

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From the magic of Disneyland to the intrigue and fascination of Universal Studios there was definitely no time for any jet lag. A day session of tennis in between to get used to the different balls (PENN) and the hard court surface started a little sluggishly, but the players responded well and – after their first sighting of a squirrel interrupting play – their tennis finished on a high. The thrill of California Adventure Park and another trip back to Disneyland followed on our final days in LA, before boarding a bus for a nine-hour drive north east to Reno, Nevada which was particularly quiet after five frenetic days.

We were now in higher altitude and the subsequent training day proved a real challenge with the juniors finding it more difficult to control their hitting in the thin air. A visit to the University of Nevada followed and we experienced their amazing facilities with a football field, which seats 30,000, a basketball arena seating 12,000 and a baseball pitch seating 3000 – just to name a few. There was also their new tennis centre of six courts with another six under construction. The University has in excess of 25,000 enrolments each year. Everyone was astonished with what we considered extravagance, but the older players in our team were salivating at the opportunities on offer to them with post school scholarships available.

Tahoe Donner (a ski resort in Truckee, California) was the first three-day tournament and at an altitude higher than Mount Kosciusko, Jake, Ben and Abbey all found it difficult to adapt to the conditions early on. They needed to put a lot more spin on the ball and take more time between points as they became tired much quicker with less oxygen in the air. Preparation and recovery was even more important. Abbey was unlucky in the first round and went down in a third set tiebreaker to a regional girl who went on to play in the final.

Ben won his opening round and drew a fellow team member from Victoria in the second round. Jake struggled early to find his rhythm but fought through the first two rounds and lost in the semis to a Southern Californian junior, who was pretty handy. Jake and Ben rallied in the doubles to produce some good results and after being down 7/4 in the semi final against the Number 1 seeds came back and won the match 9/7. They went on to win the final which was a great start to their campaign.

As we departed Tahoe Donner, we were amazed at the snow along the roadside and on the hillsides. People were still snow skiing just minutes away from where we were playing a tournament in beautiful mild conditions.

Back down to ‘flat’ ground just a couple of hours away and Sacramento brought a whole different range of challenges. A five-day training block commenced in scorching conditions between 42-49 degrees. The dry heat was very similar to Parkes in early February. I loved it but I wasn’t on the court hitting balls for hours on end.

The facilities at Gold River Racquet Club were very impressive – 25 outdoor courts, eight indoor courts, a fully functioning gymnasium, two 25m pools, two squash courts, an ice bath, hot tub, sauna, spa, a crèche, a locker room including fully equipped showers, hair dryers, straighteners etc and a cafe and fully air conditioned lounge area for guests.

This was our base and provided our players with some of the best training facilities and hospitality in Northern California. An 8.30am start and 4.30pm finish each day under the guidance of regional academy coaches plus their squads came in to challenge our players with drills, points play and match practise. This was an excellent camp environment for Ben, Jake and Abbey and made them realise firstly how much harder they can push their bodies and how much better they were striking the ball after all the quality time spent on court compared to the limited time they utilise here at home.

One of the highlights from this block was being lucky enough to go to the baseball. The Sacramento River Cats are a minor league side and are a feeder team to the San Francisco Giants. The family we went with made sure we all received a match ball and their boys were kept very busy trying to catch the foul balls and the home run balls for us during the game.

After the training block the kids were pumped for our next two back-to-back tournaments at Stockton and Yuba City. Stockton was tough with some good regional players on hand. Jake, Ben and Abbey all played well but were outclassed after two days before the semi finals.

At Stockton, we enjoyed a delicious, authentic Mexican buffet provided by one of the host families who is a financial adviser for some of the wealthiest families in America. He explained it is his job to make sure the generation of today, who are very well known celebrities on TV, don’t spend all the wealth that was created for them by their great grandparents.                 

With a day off our host family took us to the Bass Pro Outdoor Shop which was a huge two storey warehouse about the size of Bunnings in Orange and sold every type of gun, hunting weapon, fishing rod, camouflage outfit and water sports equipment you could possibly want.

An employee in the gun section answered all manner of questions an adult with three teenagers from Australia could want to know and understand about gun laws in USA. Seeing people carrying around shopping baskets full of assorted ammunition left me feeling a little awkward and wanting to perhaps take ‘my kids’ and get to the car park asap. A different culture indeed.

Our final tournament at Yuba City Racquet Club about three hours east towards San Francisco and again the facilities were first class. The highlight a second story viewing deck where we could watch all the matches and from a coaching perspective, it was brilliant. Abbey, Ben and Jake produced their best tennis against quality opponents and Jake took out the highly fancied number three seed in the opening round, much to the surprise of locals and coaches on hand. He went on to the semis where he lost to a more proficient player and then rallied to win the playoff for third and fourth in an impressive display.

Ben lost his second round to a Victorian and then played some aggressive tennis to finish runner-up in the consolation to the third seed, who Jake had beaten in the opening round. Abbey was working hard at every opportunity and in a lot of ways was the quiet achiever of the team. She showed her fighting qualities and much improved self belief to make the semi finals, going down to the top ranked Aussie in two close sets. Abbey fought hard to win the playoff for third and fourth and finish her tournaments on a high.

Abbey was later awarded the very deserving MVP for the team at the final presentations for her effort and improvement during the tour. After a final morning of training, the afternoon was spent at some outlet shopping centres and interesting to see our first ‘supercharging station’ for Tesla electric cars. They told us it takes about 20 minutes to half charge the battery which will go about 100 miles. We told them we will have to wait until they improve their mileage before we make a purchase explaining where Parkes is situated in Australia.

A few days in San Francisco to experience the iconic landmarks including Alcatraz Prison and a bike ride through the city and across the Golden Gate Bridge followed by a relaxing guided city tour and a ride on the cable cars.

The month-long adventure was truly amazing for Abbey, Ben and Jake. They learnt so much about themselves on and off the court. They bravely ventured off on four separate occasions with host families and after initial anxiety, were thankful for the overwhelming hospitality and generosity of each family during their stays.

We would like to thank our sponsors Nangar Gems, Parkes Services Club, Parkes Tennis Club, Parkes General Practise, Parkes Bearings N Parts, Ochre Medical Centre, Seamount B&B and all the community who purchased tickets and gave generous donations to help give these three Parkes juniors some very worthwhile life experiences that will help them grow and develop further.

Ben is the son of Peter and Jennifer Evans, Abbey is the daughter of Neville and Caroline Kennedy, while Jake is the son of Tony and Alison Magill of Bogan Gate.

As their coach, I have been truly blessed to be able to give them this opportunity. The respect and gratitude all three showed during the entire tour was indicative of their individual family values. Many thanks to everyone who supported and followed us during the tour on Parkes Tennis Facebook page with some wonderful messages and after such a successful tour, I am already planning another adventure abroad.